Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

The next ice age may have been delayed by over 50,000 years because of the greenhouse gases put in the atmosphere by humans, scientists in Germany say.

Earth has been through a cycle of ice ages and warm periods over the past 2.5 million years

They analysed the trigger conditions for a glaciation, like the one that gripped Earth over 12,000 years ago.

The shape of the planet's orbit around the Sun would be conducive now, they find, but the amount of carbon dioxide currently in the air is far too high.

Earth is set for a prolonged warm phase, they tell the journal Nature.

"In theory, the next ice age could be even further into the future, but there is no real practical importance in discussing whether it starts in 50,000 or 100,000 years from now," Andrey Ganopolski from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said.

"The important thing is that it is an illustration that we have a geological power now. We can change the natural sequence of events for tens of thousands of years," he told BBC News.

Earth has been through a cycle of ice ages and warm periods over the past 2.5 million years, referred to as the Quaternary Period.

This has seen ice sheets come and go. At its maximum extent, the last glaciation witnessed a big freeze spread over much of North America, northern Europe, Russia and Asia.

In the south, a vast expanse of what are now Chile and Argentina were also iced up.

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Delhi begins car rationing to curb pollution

Authorities in the Indian capital, Delhi, have launched major restrictions on private cars to curb alarming levels of pollution.

Private cars with even and odd numbers plates are being allowed on alternate days

Private cars with even and odd number plates are being allowed on alternate days from Friday in an initial two-week trial.

Emergency vehicles like ambulances, police cars, fire engines and taxis have been exempted from the order.

Delhi has experienced hazardous levels of pollution this winter.

The local government announced the scheme after a court ordered authorities to tackle pollution levels more than 10 times the World Health Organisation's safe limits.

How will Delhi's 'odd-even' car rationing work?

Exemptions

The government has made several exemptions to make it easier for people to follow the restrictions. The plan will be imposed between 8am and 8pm from Monday to Saturday.

Women will be allowed to drive their cars on all days but they can only be accompanied by women, and children below the age of 12. Cars carrying disabled people will also be allowed on all days.

Along with two wheelers, cars operating on natural gas have been exempted. In cases of medical emergency, people will not be stopped from taking patients to hospitals.

The government has hired around 3,000 private buses to provide shuttle services into the city from residential areas to ease the extra pressure on the public transport network.

Schools have been also shut until the trial ends on 15 January so that their buses can be used as public transport.

The government has launched an app that people can use to book tuk-tuks to improve last-mile connectivity from the Metro stations.

The government has hired around 3,000 private buses to provide shuttle services

Cars operating on natural gas have been exempted

Delhi has been experiencing hazardous levels of pollution this winter

Traffic policemen and several thousand volunteers will check cars at intersections and violators will be fined 2,000 rupees ($30; £20) and asked to return.

"The biggest challenge is to make people realise that this fight against pollution is for them, for their health, for their own good," Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai told AFP news agency.

Grim

Critics, however, say the plan is not practical - they say that in a city with an inadequate public transport system and poor last-mile connectivity, the new measures are likely to inconvenience commuters.

"Let's not convince ourselves wrongly that a simple odd-even policy will solve the overall air pollution issue," AFP quoted Arunabha Ghosh, head of the Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water, as saying.

Several thousand volunteers will help police during the drive

"Otherwise, we will be simply kicking the can down the road and we will create a feeling of distrust among citizens and the government machinery."

Delhi resident Pankaj Mehta, who drives 45km (30 miles) to work daily, told AFP that the restrictions would make commuting difficult.

"Rickshaw, then metro, then feeder bus, then walk - back and forth. A travel nightmare," he said.

"But if it makes breathing easier, then it may be worth it."

Environmental activists have welcomed the decision, saying the situation is so grim that urgent drastic steps are needed.

New car sales are soaring in India, with 1,400 extra cars taking to the capital's streets every day.

From BBC News

What is a carbon footprint? What can you do about yours?

A carbon footprint is historically defined as "the total sets of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or individual." (Wikipedia)

  Wright, Kemp, and Williams, writing in the journal Carbon Management, have suggested a more practicable definition:

A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) emissions of a defined population, system or activity, considering all relevant sources, sinks and storage within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population, system or activity of interest. Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) using the relevant 100-year global warming potential (GWP100).

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be emitted through transport, land clearance, and the production and consumption of food, fuels, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings, and services. For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted.

Most of the carbon footprint emissions for the average U.S. household come from "indirect" sources, i.e. fuel burned to produce goods far away from the final consumer. These are distinguished from emissions which come from burning fuel directly in one's car or stove, commonly referred to as "direct" sources of the consumer's carbon footprint. ( in Wikipedia)